The Key To Efficiency Is Simple

The past few years have caused me to delve into effective task and time management. I’ve read about, and incorporated, a multitude of methods and tools which have greatly assisted in me completing my tasks quicker and easier. One major theme I’ve found during this time is to keep things simple.

The most popular methods do help, of course. However, keeping things simple gels all these methods together.

Some pointers that I follow are, in no particular order;

Yes or No. When asked a question, provide the immediate answer. Expand on it if necessary.

Make decisions quickly, and run with it. When a new task enters the equation, quickly assess when it needs to be dealt with. Does it need you to stop what you’re busy with currently.

Keep a clean workspace. It’s a proven fact that if your workspace looks clean, you ‘feel’ better. I apply that mentality to my desktop, email, smartphone, and other aspects of my life.

Only work on necessary items. Do I really need to be in this 2 hour meeting? Do I really need to be spending half an hour replying to an email about cats? No.

Don’t get distracted. If you’re tapped on the shoulder; listen to the person, assess the importance, and set some expectation of when you can respond to them.

I haven’t really delved into explaining each item in depth, this post was to simply list most of the key concepts I follow to keep things simple. It might pay to expand on each item in a future post.